Vladimir's Not-Excellent Adventure

Putin promised stability for Russia but is delivering the opposite.

By

Holman W. Jenkins, Jr.

March 18, 2014 6:54 p.m. ET

With his speech annexing Crimea and saying Russia had no more territorial ambitions, the markets breathed a sigh of relief. But don't get your hopes up in the long run. Vladimir Putin needs conflict with the outside world, specifically the United States.

He has lived a more dangerous political life than is appreciated. His first two elections were manipulated but not entirely unfree. He felt obliged to honor the Russian constitution to step down in 2008, though he managed to install a flunky in the presidency and then win...